Chapter 20
Being Different from Others
绝学无忧。
唯之与阿，相去几何？美之与恶，相去若何？人之所畏，不可不畏。
荒兮其未央哉！众人熙熙，如享太牢，如春登台。
我独泊兮其未兆；
如婴儿之未孩；
儽儽兮若无所归。
众人皆有余，而我独若遗。
我愚人之心也哉，沌沌兮！俗人昭昭，我独昏昏；
俗人察察，我独闷闷。
澹兮其若海，飂兮若无止。
众人皆有以，而我独顽似鄙。
我独异于人，而贵食母。
James Legge · 1891 · Public domain
1.
When we renounce learning we have no troubles.
The (ready) 'yes,' and (flattering) 'yea;'--
Small is the difference they display.
But mark their issues, good and ill;--
What space the gulf between shall fill?
What all men fear is indeed to be feared; but how wide and without end is the range of questions (asking to be discussed)!
2. The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased; as if enjoying a full banquet, as if mounted on a tower in spring. I alone seem listless and still, my desires having as yet given no indication of their presence. I am like an infant which has not yet smiled. I look dejected and forlorn, as if I had no home to go to. The multitude of men all have enough and to spare. I alone seem to have lost everything. My mind is that of a stupid man; I am in a state of chaos.
Ordinary men look bright and intelligent, while I alone seem to be benighted. They look full of discrimination, while I alone am dull and confused. I seem to be carried about as on the sea, drifting as if I had nowhere to rest. All men have their spheres of action, while I alone seem dull and incapable, like a rude borderer. (Thus) I alone am different from other men, but I value the nursing-mother (the Tao).